Monday, December 5, 2011

Laundromat Fun unit and Field trip.

A awhile back I came across an idea in a pre-school copy of Mailbox (which I love)Magazine. The story suggested was

I also requested Curious George at the laundromat (I love Curious George)

There were several activities and worksheets to go with them, but I forgot those. I knew this looked fun so I requested this book from the library and it sat on my shelf for 14 weeks (I kept renewing it) until this week when I had hit my renew max so I pulled out some boxes I was saving for this and other up coming projects and made a Laundromat!

Complete with a Gumball machine (on the table) and books to read while waiting for laundry to finish up (notice my selection of books)

Action shots, they were eager to start right away even Falcon thought this was fun! They had a lot of fun washing, drying and sorting the dress up clothes. I watched from the other side of the room while I folded real laundry that just came out of our dryer.

I was planning on covering the fronts of the boxes with paper and drawing dials and such on them, but I new my kids would be hard on the boxes and I didn't want to waste my time. After about 20 minutes of play they discovered they could get in the washers and dryers and play in them. After day 1 the boxes were in bad shape but they are having fun and loving the imaginative play even if it is not laundry related. Play is learning no matter how you spin it!

Later that week we headed to the Laundromat for a field trip. I needed to wash a down comforter from my Dad's house so we took it to the Laundromat to get a really good wash in one of the large super washers.

We had the place basically to ourselves so I gave the kids rides around in the laundry carts and played hide and go seek.Watching our blanket getting super sudsey in the super washer! (say that 10 times without messing up, I dare you).

Of course they loved the arcade games.

Duck and Owl thought it was loads of fun to open all the dryer doors then shut them over and over.

As we piled into the car after spending over an hour there, I asked the kids if they would like to do this every week and they replied "Yes it is sooooooo fun at the Laundromat" I do know that this would not be the response I would get if we really did have to go to the Laundromat every week. So for now I am extremely thankful for our home washer and dryer.

Clothsline we made in the kitchen to hang up washcloths for extra laundry fun.

7 comments:

I read Knuffle bunny to my kids years ago. What a great way to make the laundry mat a fund field trip. I have to use the base laundry monthly, but I have never made it that fun for my kids. I will have to rethink my plans. Fantastic job:) Thanks for linking up tothe Field trip hop

BekahI used large boxes from our business and boxes from costco. I pulled out the dress up stuff and put it in baskets for them to sort, wash, and dry. ( I have tons of it) I was originally just planning to give them random clothes, that would work too! The kids had a lot of fun with this. They loved pretending to be adults and do things just like mom.

Baby Birds In My Nest

Falcon - age 17 Junior in CollegeHe attends a local University and is majoring in Communication. Now a Korean certified black belt in Taekwondo. He likes playing video games like all boys and has fun playing with paper money on the stock market.

Robin - age 11 grade (7)This was the first bird she was able to identify at 2.5 yrs old. She loves worms just as much as the robin. She has a fantastic memory and is very sweet and caring. She loves horses and takes English riding lessons. She is obsessed with Sea turtles and all things ocean right now.

Duck-age 9 grade (4)My most difficult bird, he keeps me on my toes. He has a very Jekyll/ Hyde personality.Stole his sisters stuffed duck as soon as he could crawl and adopted it his. Loves polar bears more than any other animal. He is super active and loves hard work outside. You can usually find him 30 feet up in a tree.

Owl- age 8 grade( 4)My silent observer. He loves to cuddle and be right next to Mama bird at all times he learns very quickly and is super cuddly. Loves nature and is always picking up animals and bugs. He is the family hugger!

Canary - Age 3 ( preschool)

Loves music, dancing and singing. If there is no music on she will make her own and dance to her own beat.